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Readers, what is your work-from-home routine? Have you settled into a good flow for each day, or does it vary widely? How is it different from the office routine you had previously?
We've talked about how to make the most of your naturally productive times and morning office routines, as well as how to manage your time in the past — but I think this is the first time we've talked about work-from-home routines. You may also want to read our recent roundup of tips from moms who work at home, as well as all our best work-from-home tips!
{related: how to focus when you work from home}
Elizabeth's Work-From-Home Routine
I should note up front that I’m an introverted homebody by nature and I live alone, so this setup has not been nearly as hard on me as it could have been.
7:00–7:45 a.m. I am not a morning person, so I use the time that I would normally be spending on getting ready and commuting to wake up slowly, watch a little TV, and listen to the news. (Strong plug for NPR’s Up First podcast – it’s less than 15 minutes and a good way to get myself oriented to the news of the day.)
7:45–8:00 a.m. Get dressed, fix my hair, and put on just enough makeup to look alive (concealer, mascara, a little bit of blush). Even when I’m working from home, I still have a fair number of video conferences, court appearances, and depositions that require me to change out of pajamas and pull myself together.
8:00–10:00 a.m.: Make breakfast. If it’s nice enough, I take my laptop out to the patio to get started working for the day.
10:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Change of scenery — move to home office and work from my desk until lunch.
12:30–1:30 p.m. I try to take a full lunch break, which is not something I typically do in the office. I make lunch and either call my parents (who are also stuck at home) or Zoom with coworkers to touch base.
1:30–6:00 p.m. More work in the home office. I try to take 10–15 mins at some point during the afternoon to chitchat with a coworker or a friend via phone or text.
6:00ish: Shut down computer for the day, if I can. Go for a walk outside and listen to an audiobook or podcast, or hop on the Peloton or treadmill.
7:00 p.m. Make dinner and phone/Zoom with family or friends while I cook, eat, and clean up.
8:00–10:00 p.m. Shower, get ready for bed, watch TV until it’s time for lights out.
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Kate's Work-From-Home Routine
I've been working from home for years, but I don't have a set schedule. (I work part time, which makes it easier to avoid adding structure to my days … but it's not ideal.) Here's how this summer has generally been going:
7:00 a.m. Alarm goes off; either get up or snooze until 7:30ish.
8:00 a.m. Make breakfast for my son; pack his lunch. Make sure he gets dressed, brushes his teeth, etc.
9:00 a.m. Drop him off at camp. I may do a quick errand like return things to the library.
9:30 a.m. Eat breakfast (plain Cheerios, granola, and chia seeds every day!); scroll through Twitter.
10:00 a.m. Time to work. My husband is still working from home and uses our home office. I prefer to have my own space, and he has a lot of phone calls/Zoom calls (and we both always have Spotify on), so I use the secretary desk in the bedroom — with my laptop on the top, and an ancient Microsoft ergonomic keyboard, wrist-rest mousepad, and an old wireless mouse on the fold-out part. I have this office chair with a Purple seat cushion and my Hillary Clinton campaign pillow (sigh).
{related: the best Spotify playlists to help you focus}
10:00 a.m.–1:00ish: Work and more — maybe do some laundry or fill the bird feeders or do random other things. Go through work and non-work emails. Throughout the day, I do a bunch of work stuff, like check emails, go on Slack, help moderate comments, keep an eye out for articles to use in our news posts, come up with story ideas and pitch stories to publications, etc., but I try to keep my writing to the morning when I'm “fresher.”
Afternoon: Eat lunch, usually something like reheated frozen pizza — fancy! Lately, I watch Selling Sunset as my guilty pleasure. Work/chores/errands. Check social media; read the news; go through emails.
2:00–2:30 p.m. Work out. (Really, my exercise times vary wildly during the week. On Mondays, I do a half-hour Zoom workout with my trainer.)
2:30–3:15 p.m. Shower/get ready; I often listen to a podcast, and I just started Nice White Parents.
3:30 p.m. Pick up my son at camp. Sometimes I drop him off at home and then do an errand or two.
4:00–5:30ish: I may or may not do Corporette work or other writing; text with a friend; talk to my mom on the phone. I've also taken a couple of free/cheap classes recently (e.g., from Pandemic University).
{related: online classes to take for fun during quarantine}
5:30ish. Sit with my son as he practices viola. Once a week, he has a Zoom viola lesson at this time.
6:00ish or 7:00ish: Have dinner.
7:00/8:00–9:00 p.m. Screen time for everyone; clean up after dinner; my son gets ready for bed; he and I play Words With Friends together.
9:00–11:30ish: Sometimes I fit in some work here, or scroll through Twitter/Reddit, etc. Usually I'm too tired to be productive, but I always think I will be.
11:30ish: If I haven't already fallen asleep, go to bed.
Weekends: Sometimes I work a bit on either Saturday or Sunday, but my expectations are always greater than my output!
Note: My days will look very different soon when school starts… (Our son will be two days a week at school and three days at home. Solidarity with all the working moms out there!)
Kat's Work-From-Home Routine
My work-from-home routine is a bit weird because I work for myself and the work is all blog, so I've put it last. I've been working from home for years also, but with the kids home my routine has changed significantly.
Pre-COVID, I had a great rule about getting a workout in before 9:30 and even had a time-blocked schedule with different aspects of the blog to focus on from 8:30–5:00.
Post-COVID, sharing work-time with my husband and splitting Parent-In-Charge time between the two of us and another family caregiver looks like this during the workweek:
(5:00–11:30 a.m. Minimal work like checking comments, putting out fires, trying to at least review/delete emails, check in with Slack, and other stuff that can be done from a phone/iPad/Chromebook. My husband and the kids are all morning larks, whereas I'm a night owl, so I feel like I'm sludging along with brain fog until about 9:30 or 10:00. I try to drink no more than one cup of coffee and, if I'm really on top of my game, drink 32 oz. of water before I eat a light breakfast somewhere between 10:30–11:30.)
11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. Desktop time! Putting finishing touches on the day's content for both blogs. Respond to pressing emails or other blog and family matters that need more focus than I can give when I'm with the kids. Also eat lunch somewhere in there.
{related: how to set up a great home office}
2:30–3:30 p.m. window. Find time to exercise for 20–30 minutes (weights, cardio, or walk) — afternoon tea or snack. If I'm lifting weights I usually watch an old episode of Schitt's Creek, lately while I use the FitBod app (review to come, I really love it!)
2:30–6:00 p.m. Fall down rabbitholes for blog — some days this looks like updating 10,000 older posts from the old WordPress format to the newer WordPress format (something I'll have to do anyway eventually); sometimes this means working on the Corporette store (which is coming!); sometimes it means doing all the Coffee Breaks for the next week, or writing 3–5 rough drafts for posts; sometimes it's doing Pins or other social media management; sometimes it's updating older content that is doing well in search but would be boring for the readers to see more than once every few years (like wide heels or busty blouses).
I know it sounds unfocused but this is usually the time I find my flow and focus. Mornings are much harder for me to focus unless I go somewhere else — if I take writing prompts or ideas for Corporette posts with me I can sometimes bang out rough drafts for 3–4 posts in an hour.
6:00–8:00 p.m. Dinner/bedtime/bath funnel. I'm generally in charge of planning/purchasing/recipe-sourcing dinner, but my husband usually makes it, which lets me work right until dinner. I'm usually in a flow by then that I wish I could work through. (I've written before about how naturally productive times and family times often collide for me!)
{related: how to make the most of your productive times}
Fridays are a bit unusual because there isn't a ton of pressing content (Kate does the news roundup, although we both collect links during the week, and I often have the Weekend Open Thread done by then), so I often try to plan content, review analytics, or work on bigger projects that are harder to get into with the limited time available on the other days. Kate and I also have a call every other Friday to go over content and plans.
As the kids get older, my weekends are opening back up and I can sometimes find 4–6 hours on the weekend to fall down rabbitholes as well. Some weekday evenings I work also, although by 8:00 p.m. I'm usually shot mentally. I'm starting to get into a good routine of doing a 20- to 30-minute Hatha or restorative yoga session before bed some nights if energy allows.
We're generally in bed by 9:30 (maybe to watch an episode or two of whatever show we're binging, lately Ozarks). I may stay up until 11:30–1:30 reading books (or doomscrolling, yay!). If I'm playing an Internet game I try to listen to the audio of one of the many blog-related courses that I'm taking right now. (I keep buying them and then not finishing them so I'm somewhere actively in the middle of like 40 classes right now. No, not great!) I'm working on going to bed earlier!
Readers who are working from homes — what is YOUR work-from-home routine? When do you generally start/end work for the day — and when in the day is your most productive (or, as Kat put it, do you find your flow)? If you're new to working from home, what have been your best productivity tips?
Clementine
I posted a schedule that ended up being completely banana pants nutty. Basically, I was solo parenting 3 kids (infant, toddler, preschooler) with no extra help and still working 50-ish hours a week. I wasn’t sleeping, but i made it work.
The toddler goes to daycare now and it’s a total gamechanger as the baby is happy to roll around on the floor while I work and the preschooler would happily watch TV for 6 hours a day if I allowed it. Now, it’s more like:
Wake up 6AM – Cram in an hour of email responses before the kids need my full attention
Drive toddler to daycare.
Home and logged on from 8-4, alternating inside and outside. Around lunchtime, I take the kids on a walk/bike ride. Folding laundry while on mute on conference calls is my fav part of WFH. I am someone who focuses better when my hands are busy and I find myself actually being more engaged in the calls as a result. (Also, folded laundry.) I spend a lot of time working while my kid plays with legos next to me or sitting at the picnic table while he plays outside. I’m lucky that preschooler is an easygoing kid with an amazing imagination.
4-7 Blur of picking up toddler, making dinner, going for an after dinner walk, dinner/bedtime/feeding the baby and sheer chaos.
7-8 Negotiate with preschooler and baby for bedtime and stare at a wall
8-11 – clean kitchen, Peloton workout, do All the Things, catch up on work emails and prioritize for the morning.
11pm-too late – Tell myself every 5 minutes ‘I really should be going to bed’ but just enjoy the bliss that is not being needed for 5 freaking minutes.
In awe
Just here to say, you are a super human!
Pink
I’ll play.
6:30 – alarm goes off. Snooze til 7 (bad habit I’ve picked up in quarantine) or when kidnado joins us in bed, whichever is first
7:15-7:55 – unload dishwasher, have a cup of coffee, pack kiddos’ lunch (he’s 3 and attends day care)
7:55 – put on sunscreen, jewelry and “work” clothes: lately it’s shorts, sports bra, a tank top (it’s hot AF here) and Allbirds
8:00 – start a load of laundry, bring laptop to breakfast table and log into work (WFH setup isn’t ideal but it’s temporary)
8:00-9:00 – check emails
9:00-11:00 – attend meetings. I do not enable my camera on Zoom calls.
11:00-noon – Try to work but mostly goof off
noon-2:00PM – make myself a sandwich or leftovers for lunch, wash dishes, get some actual work done
2:00-4:00 – try to work uninterrupted but end up helping users
4PM – log off work, go pick up kiddo from day care
5PM – return home, warm up and lift weights (M/W/F) or make dinner (Tu/Thu). Run robot vacuum. Let kiddo watch some tv.
6:30 – eat dinner as a family while watching tv (another bad quarantine habit)
7:30 – start kiddo’s bedtime routine: bath (fold laundry during bath), pjs, book, brush teeth, say prayers, lights out at 8:30
8:30 – watch Rick & Morty with DH
9PM – sauna
9:30 – shower
10PM – in bed. DH usually reads for 30 minutes; I fall asleep immediately.
oil in houston
5.45am – baby starts crying, it used to be 6.30, then 6, then 5.45… he seems to be settled around that time now. I get up and give him his bottle. It is annoying in the weekends, but during the week I don’t mind too much, it gives me some time to be with him. I check urgent messages at same time as he has his bottle. Since I stopped nursing him, we alternate Saturdays and Sundays with my husband.
6.30 – daughter wakes up, I make her breakfast and mine, and give baby some fruits and cheerios
7.15 – I wake up DH on weekdays, he is now in charge till lunch, he is a writer so his schedule is more flexible than mine. I go have my shower and get dressed, and a bit of very light tinted moisturizer, my post Covid uniform is a fun button up shirt (I now own 5 or 6) and a comfortable skirt. I’m usually in video calls most of the day.
7.30-8 catch up on emails
8-12 back to back calls with my teams (baby naps 8.30-10 and DD is very independent so usually DH works during that time)
12-1 I try hard to keep that time to see the kids, I’m successful 50% of the time, they usually eat at 11.30 before me anyway. My husband goes to his office to check emails and return important calls
1-4 more back to back calls or doc reviews. If I can, I’ll try to do one of them without videos and try to lift some light weights (baby naps 1-2.30)
4.15 – I take kids and go for 15mn walk around neighbourhood, it allows me to decompress after quite an hectic day. At that point DH does his thing
5 – 6.30 – I give baby his bottle and make him dinner, then do teeth/books/bed. sometimes I make dinner whilst he eats, sometimes DH takes care of it
6.30-7.30 dinner with DH and DD, we play a game
7.30-8 read stories to DD
8 -10 some nights I go for bike ride or swim, some night it’s wine instead. We watch a series with DH, I keep an eye on urgent messages from work (we are global operations)
10-10.30 twitter and internet in bed
bellatrix
My schedule is very loose, and it’s terrible. Start work any time between 7:30 and 10, pivot between work and kid-wrangling, stop somewhere in the 5-7 range, dinner, another hour of work, put kid to bed, more work until about midnight, intend to go to bed but end up reading or doomscrolling until about 2. It’s not great. Kid (10) starts virtual school on Monday, and he has to be in front of his screen at 8:45, so we’re all going to need a better schedule stat.
vhnurse1
Wake up between 5-6 without an alarm (pre-work from home I traveled for work weekly and an alarm is useful for piercing the cocoon of white noise, ear plugs, and sleep mask). Cup of coffee with the dogs and either a walk, some yoga, or hop on calls/video if accounts want early calls. I work in healthcare and clinicians are up at the crack of dawn and before patient rounds start is the best time for connecting.
8-10 another cup of coffee and something to eat if hungry and start on e-mails. 1-ish lunch and if it isn’t too blasted hot a quick walk to get out of the house. 2-5 calls, computer work, and more. Scattering of 10-15 minute breaks where I typically run a load of laundry or vacuum or do a quick stretching routine to keep battling really tight psoas and hamstring muscles. My desk setup is not optimal as DH works from home right now as well and his job has almost non-stop calls/video meetings so he gets the office with a door that closes and I get the kitchen table.
C
We are DINKs. Both WFH now. Small condo. Tend more toward night owls.
8am ish I roll out of bed. Lately I pull on workout clothes if it’s dry enough to jog a bit outside before work. Shower, pull on athleisure type work clothes with fancier top if video will be needed, eat breakfast, give kitty her meds.
9am ish-10am ish start work. DH and I trade off the office and the dining room depending on who has meetings when and whether video is needed. He is usually up and at work by now as well.
1pm ish eat lunch usually while working (okay, sometimes I go down a non-productive doomscroll but I do try to avoid this!).
6:30pm ish start wrapping up work and trying to determine if weather permits walk outside before sunset, often with DH.
8pm ish some chores. DH may log back on and do more work.
9pm ish vegetative state in front of the computer or with a book.
12am ish bed
Weekends are for socializing and keeping in touch with folks, longer workouts, cooking for the week, major chores like laundry.
Sloan Sabbith
This is on days I don’t oversleep:
7:45-8ish: Wake up
8-9: Morning meds (20ish min), shower, eat
9-10: Work (or, if I can swing it, do a walking meeting for weekly check in with interns or colleagues)
10-11: Work, maybe go get coffee around 10:30 or 11 to get out of the house (15ish min). Not my most productive time.
11-1 or 1:30: Try to work on a million things, get nothing done on any one thing, screw around.
1:30-2ish: Eat leftovers for lunch.
2-4ish: Work, client calls, try to get at least one or two key things done. Usually have a call in there, ad hoc or scheduled.
4-5: Sort of work? This is my most productive time when I’m not living with parents, but not so much right now because my mom finishes work at 4 so it’s loud and dinner is right at 5, which almost always gets in the way of doing deep work/flow that starts late afternoon.
5-9 or so: Dinner, walk with mom or solo walk with dogs, watch TV or read or take a bath
9-?? (Ideally 10:30, usually more like 11:30 or 12): Work or read or scroll the internet. Enjoy the silence. I usually live by myself, and love it, so the constant noise of living with my parents gets on my nerves.
Whenever: Go to bed.
For a couple of weeks there, it was more like 8PM-2AM: Work. I just was slammed and never had time during the day to focus with 2 interns, a new attorney I’m training, and all the other day to day stuff that seems to take twice as long during COVID.
techgirl
7am: Slowly wake up, read the news, scroll through social media.
8am: Get out of bed, skincare, dress in some form of leggings/sports bra/knitwear combo, sometimes brow gel and concealer, get a coffee
8.30am: First call of the day and write to do list based on tasks carried over from previous day and new tasks generated. Scan emails looking for urgent items or escalations and add these to to do list.
9am-12pm: Try and achieve some level of productivity, maybe get 4 items on the to do list done. Don’t turn on video on calls as standard, but I keep a concealer and lipstick on my desk to swipe on if someone decides we need to. Take 15 mins at some point to go chat to husband and eat a couple of cashews.
12pm: Take an hour lunch to eat the food I meal prepped on Sunday. Eat in front of TV with husband.
1pm-5pm: Keep working – focusing more on emails in the afternoon. I find that doing emails first thing means your plans are overtaken by everyone else’s requests. I’m also less productive in the afternoon and emails usually have a call to action that takes less brain power. Take 15 mins to chat to husband (typically I’d go to get coffee with a coworker or something in the office, so he essentially stands in for this!)
5pm-6pm: Peloton
6pm: Shower and skincare. On Fridays have a gin and tonic. Husband or I will make dinner. Watch an episode of tv. He does the dishes while I message friends and family.
8pm: I’ll watch TV, listen to a podcast, do a puzzle or do some drawing.
10pm: Head to bed, watch an episode of something light and then lights off about 11pm.
Liz
700 wake up naturally and drink coffee, surf the web. Make breakfast for my 13 year old son
800-10 am or 11 am: check emails, work, meetings
10 am or 11 am: eat breakfast or snack
12:00-4:00 work, in between vacuum or do laundry, dishes
4-430: emails
430-500 make dinner
530-630 Go running outdoors with husband or by myself, or visit my parents, walk with parents or sister.
630-700 go to the store down the street to get milk etc
700-900 Eat dinner and watch the news and tv with husband, surf web
930 or 1030 bed
Jessica Day
I switched jobs and just started working from home again (at my old gig I worked at home for about 6 weeks at the beginning of the pandemic). Here is the routine I am trying to establish:
7-7:30am: alarm goes off, press snooze a few times, cuddle with dogs, scroll through social media
7:30am-8am: take dogs out, make coffee, clean up kitchen
8-8:30am: get ready for day, if time, enjoy coffee on patio and eat breakfast
8:30am-noon: start the day catching up on emails and other work from home work space – our formal living room. Last summer, I decided it was silly to have a formal living room so I bought a big desk to put in there. I had no idea how much this would pay off in the long run. My husband is also working from home and he has an office upstairs. If I need a change of scenery, I take my laptop out on the patio, which is covered so I can be out there even if weather isn’t great.
Noon-1pm: if I have time, take a break to make lunch and catch up with my husband. Whether this is possible will vary greatly each day, but at least hope to do it at least once a week.
1pm-5pm: back to work
5-6:30pm: finish up work, if needed, make dinner, etc.
6:30-7:30: take dogs for a walk, play cards or other board games with my husband
7:30-10:30pm: watch tv, peloton, shower, get ready for bed